Two for Taylor with ASCS Speedweek Win at OKC

[rebelracewriter]

Two for Taylor with ASCS Speedweek Win at OKC

 

 

Lonnie Wheatley, OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (July 18, 2008) – Washington state native Gary Taylor added his second O'Reilly American Sprint Cars on Tour National series feature win just seven days after his first score by topping the 25-lap main event in the Fifth Round of the 16th Annual Toyota Tundra ASCS Sizzlin' Summer Speedweek at State Fair Speedway.

 

 

 

Taylor, who topped the Speedweek opener on the previous Friday night in Texarkana, charged by early leader Tim Crawley on the ninth round and then withstood a late charge from Travis Rilat to secure his fifth overall ASCS feature win of the year aboard Mike and Megan Eubanks' Tel-Star Communications No. 5* Triple-X chassis.

 

 

 

Taylor gridded the feature field outside the front row, but it was three-time ASCS National champion Crawley gunning into the lead from the pole position at the outset with Taylor, Andy Shouse, Kevin Ramey and Gary Wright in tow.

 

 

 

Vying for his first ASCS National Tour triumph since 2005, Crawley reached lapped traffic by the sixth round as Taylor kept the pressure on. And when Crawley slipped off the top of the banking exiting turn four, Taylor wasted no time taking advantage of the miscue to snare the lead.

 

 

 

"I could hang with him alright, but getting around him was going to be another thing," Taylor explained afterward. "I probably needed for something like that to happen to get by."

 

 

 

Slicing through traffic with Crawley nipping at his heels over the ensuing laps, Taylor found open track after the red flag flew for Eric Baldaccini's turn four flip after 16 laps. However, it wasn't going to be that easy.

 

 

 

"Something happened to the car after that red, it didn't feel right," Taylor relayed. "I ran it in up top and nearly did the same thing Tim did earlier, so after that I moved my line down and just tried to protect my position."

 

 

 

Crawley had challenged aboard Mike Ward's McCarver-powered Boater Sports No. 88 Maxim, but had little for the leader when Taylor moved lower on the track.

 

 

 

Taylor's biggest threat suddenly emerged in the form of Travis Rilat, who had been on the move from his 12th starting position. Rilat had moved to sixth by the time the red flag flew after 16 laps. And when the final caution flew four laps later when Joe Wood, Jr., bounced to a stop outside of turn four, Rilat had moved to fourth behind Taylor, Crawley and Shouse.

 

 

 

Rilat wasted no time disposing of Shouse on the restart and then battled past Crawley for second upon the completion of the 27th lap. Rocketing around the top side of the track in the F&J Construction No. 29 Triple-X, Rilat gobbled up Taylor's meager advantage and set up the leader for a move through turns three and four.

 

 

 

But Rilat's shot at victory missed when he overdrove the fourth corner, allowing Taylor to slip away and Crawley back into second. Taylor raced on to the checkered flag with a half-dozen car-length advantage over Crawley, who posted his second runner-up finish of the week just ahead of Rilat.

 

 

 

Shouse crossed the stripe in fourth, with four-time and reigning series champion Gary Wright rounding out the top five aboard the Wesmar-powered Richwood Construction No. 9 Maxim.

 

 

 

Garry Lee Maier claimed sixth in front of past Sooner Region champs Danny Jennings and Kevin Ramey.

 

 

 

After running outside the top ten at the lap 16 red flag stoppage, Jason Johnson picked off some late spots to finish ninth, extending his series record string of top-ten feature finishes to 42 in a row.

 

 

 

Eighteen-year-old Washington racer J.J. Hickle posted his first top ten finish of the week by completing the top ten.

 

 

 

Ramey, Taylor, Chris Lloyd and Shouse topped heat race action, with Wayne Johnson winning the "B" Main.

 

 

 

Jason Johnson escaped the night with a 32-point advantage over Zach Chappell heading into Saturday night's 16th Annual Toyota Tundra ASCS Sizzlin' Summer Speedweek finale at Lawton Speedway. Johnson can secure his second career ASCS Speedweek crown with a finish of 15th or better in Saturday night's main event.

 

 

 

16th Annual Toyota Tundra ASCS Sizzlin' Summer Speedweek Round Five Results from State Fair Speedway:

 

 

 

Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points to "A" Main; Balance to "B" Mains):

 

 

 

Brodix Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 2. 61J-Danny Jennings, 3. 15s-Nick Smith, 4. 29-Travis Rilat, 5. 15k-Kerry McAlister, 6. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 7. 5$-Danny Smith, 8. 74-Claud Estes.

 

 

 

Wesmar-Shaver Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 5*-Gary Taylor, 2. 88-Tim Crawley, 3. 41-Jason Johnson, 4. 22-Koby Barksdale, 5. 94-Wayne Johnson, 6. 15-Brad Bowden, 7. 81au-Gavin Punch, 8. 95-Matt Covington.

 

 

 

Brodix Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 28-Chris Lloyd, 2. 7-J.J. Hickle, 3. 11x-Garry Lee Maier, 4. 50z-Zach Chappell, 5. 2-Kenneth Walker, 6. 13-Kathryne Minter, 7. 3R-Michael Beckerman. DNS: 72-Sherman Davis.

 

 

 

Wesmar-Shaver Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 27-Andy Shouse, 2. 9-Gary Wright, 3. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 4. 25-Robert Sellers, 5. 36-Darren Stewart, 6. 1-Sean McClelland, 7. 31-Matt Clevenger.

 

 

 

"B" Main (Top 6 Advance to "A" Main):

 

 

 

"B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 94-Wayne Johnson, 2. 25-Robert Sellers, 3. 36-Darren Stewart, 4. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 5. 15-Brad Bowden, 6. 95-Matt Covington, 7. 72-Sherman Davis, 8. 81au-Gavin Punch, 9. 13-Kathryne Minter, 10. 3r-Michael Beckerman, 11. 74-Claud Estes, 12. 2-Kenneth Walker, 13. 1-Sean McClelland, 14. 5$-Danny Smith. DNS: 31-Matt Clevenger.

 

 

 

O’Reilly ASCoT "A" Main Event:

 

 

 

“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 5*-Gary Taylor, 2. 88-Tim Crawley, 3. 29-Travis Rilat, 4. 27-Andy Shouse, 5. 9-Gary Wright, 6. 11x-Garry Lee Maier, 7. 61J-Danny Jennings, 8. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 9. 41-Jason Johnson, 10. 7-J.J. Hickle, 11. 50z-Zach Chappell, 12. 94-Wayne Johnson, 13. 22-Koby Barksdale, 14. 36-Darren Stewart, 15. 15s-Nick Smith, 16. 2-Kenneth Walker, 17. 15-Brad Bowden, 18. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 19. 25-Robert Sellers, 20. b4-Eric Baldaccini, 21. 95-Matt Covington, 22. 74-Claud Estes, 23. 28-Chris Lloyd, 24. 15k-Kerry McAlister.

 

 

 

Lap Leaders: Tim Crawley 1-8, Gary Taylor 9-25.

 

 

 

Note: Kenneth Walker utilized an ASCoT provisional and Claud Estes utilized an ASCS Speedweek provisional to start the "A" Main.

 

 

 

O’Reilly ASCoT Points (Top Fifteen): 1. Jason Johnson 2,959, 2. Gary Wright 2,874, 3. Wayne Johnson 2,857, 4. Zach Chappell 2,793, 5. Garry Lee Maier 2,622, 6. Eric Baldaccini 2,435, 7. Nick Smith 2,302, 8. Kenneth Walker 2,119, 9. Travis Rilat 1,989, 10. Gary Taylor 1,876, 11. Kathryne Minter 1,806, 12. Jack Dover 1,648, 13. Matt Covington 1,229, 14. Aaron Berryhill 1,174, 15. Jason Sides 1,130.

 

 

 

16th Annual Toyota Tundra ASCS Sizzlin' Summer Speedweek Points (Top Fifteen – Through Round Five of Six): 1. Jason Johnson 718, 2. Zach Chappell 686, 3. Wayne Johnson 680, 4. Garry Lee Maier 654, 5. Brad Bowden 634, 6. (tie) Gary Wright and Travis Rilat 625, 8. Gary Taylor 613, 9. Eric Baldaccini 606, 10. Nick Smith 589, 11. J.J. Hickle 563, 12. Claud Estes 526, 13. Matt Covington 516, 14. Kenneth Walker 504, 15. Kathryne Minter 465.